How does being a Type A person affect your life? And, given your inherent personality, how can you live your life to the fullest? Type As have many wonderful strengths (ambition, energy, industriousness) and a few glaring weaknesses (impatience, inability to relax) that make life both a wonderful opportunity, and occasionally, very challenging. The answer […]

Do you spend very little time on your finances either because it is so boring and tedious, or because you don’t know a lot about the subject and it intimidates you? You are not alone. Budgeting, saving, investing, and borrowing are at the bottom of most people’s lists of things they want to spend time […]

The keys to continual improvement in your fitness level are always having a highly motivating goal and adding sufficient variety to your routine to keep it challenging and fun. My background in diet and exercise is very strongly rooted in the basic, fundamental principles of exercise and nutrition science. I have been training in bodybuilding […]

Type As are prone to anxiety, pure and simple. Our ambitious, energetic, and controlling natures predispose us to problems with nervousness, anxiety, and even panic attacks. And since anxiety and depression are such “close cousins,” many Type As also experience an occasional bout of the blues, or worse. However, there exist many well-developed methods for […]

This site is strictly for Lady Gaga diehards. Lady Gaga is our girl, plain and simple. If you like Katy Perry, Mariah Carey, or J Lo as much or more than Gaga, then you are a sellout and traitor. If you do not support the LGBT community, your time would be better spent trolling hate […]

Tim McIntyre retired in 2004 at age forty-six from his position as president of Applied Systems after facilitating a successful sale of the large and profitable software company. At this crossroads in his life, he made the unusual decision to fully retire from his career to pursue other interests and simply enjoy free time. As […]

I began the book with the observation that many Type As are anxious about the prospect of retiring. The open space of retirement is daunting, especially for driven and achievement-oriented people, or even for those Type As who just like to be busy and occupied all the time. I have addressed the challenges of retirement […]

Ahhh. Feeling in control. Being in control. Nirvana! Even a Type A with only a smidgen of self-awareness realizes that control is a central issue: controlling your schedule, trying to control your kids, controlling a project or that difficult subordinate at work, attempting to control your spouse whose needs, wants, and schedule affect your life. […]

The chair I am sitting on in the therapist’s office is adequate, but I notice that his couch looks much more comfortable. No, I decide, I’ll just stay where I am. The chair will give me a better angle of view on the therapist so that I’ll be more focused on him. I’m hoping he […]

Most Type As do not suffer from panic attacks, and if you have never had one, then good for you. Count yourself blessed. However, I have observed that people with Type A personalities are prone to these attacks, likely due to their hard-driving and controlling personalities.

Unfortunately for me, I have been a lifelong sufferer from panic attacks. After much reading and introspection, I have been able to manage them very effectively, to the point where I almost never have a panic attack, or if I do, it is mild, short-lived, and uneventful.

This is good news for me, obviously. It is also good news for you, since you can benefit and learn from my experience!

I will write more articles on the subject of panic attacks, but I want to share some key thoughts in this first article to help you right away. If you are experiencing a panic attack, the following 4 attitudes and behaviors will help you overcome it:

“I’m not going to die.” I have never read or heard of a case where a panic attack sufferer died from it. Your brain might be flashing this warning, but your thinking is irrational on this point. You will live.

“There is no real emergency.” The fact of the matter is that panic attack sufferers have an easily triggered “fight or flight response,” which simply means that your brain is prone to perceiving and responding to a false emergency as though it were a real one. As an example, when you are simply uneasy by being, say, in a crowded theater, your mind may react to this mild discomfort with irrationally high levels of fear. Re-interpret the situation for what it really is: uncomfortable, but not terrifying.

“I can control my muscles.” You might think and feel as though you must physically respond to these panicky thoughts, by, say, running out of the theater, but you can, in fact, control your muscles and not respond in this way. Believe me, it works.

“I don’t care what people think.” This is deceptively simple, yet important. It is critical that you do not bring social concern and embarrassment into the equation; otherwise it will greatly heighten your level of anxiety. Does it really matter if a family member or friend knows that you are having or had a bout of anxiety? I will explore this critical concept in much greater detail in later articles.

These thoughts have worked for me and I hope they allow you to begin to be able to put panic attacks in their rightful and less intimidating perspective.

TIM MCINTYRE retired in 2004 from his position as president of Applied Systems after facilitating a successful sale of the company. At only forty-six years old, he made the unusual decision to fully retire to pursue other interests and simply enjoy free time. As a hard-driving Type A personality, this turned out to be a significant challenge for the Notre Dame and University of Chicago-educated MBA, CPA, and Certified Cash Manager.